Maggie’s The whole nine yards....

[PinesAndProjectiles]

Had a guy tell me that the military was using some type of belt fed weapon and when shtf, they would fire all nine yards worth of belted ammo.

Which lead to the term, the whole nine yards.

Now I'm not trying to start a pissing contest about how it originated, but what are some other phrases you've heard similar to this?


Also heard an old farmer say it's raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock.

 

[madppcs]

I believe it originated with the gunners in bombers.

 

[TerryH]

...thought it was the belt length in bombers as mentioned, if you fired the lot off at one plane you gave it 'the whole nine yards', but probably a lot of other origins to the term??

 

[Thumper580]

Heard it was belt length on the P51's......

 

[Lapuapalooza]

^ that is my understanding as well. To load the guns they would lay out the belts and have to fold the into the boxes in the wings. One belt length=9 yards.

 

[diverdon]

Heard it was belt length on the P51's......

That was what I had heard as well, though there may well have been bombers with the same ammo.

 

[Unknown]

I have also heard that it began referring to the length of fabric used for a Scottish great kilt, (not the modern kilt) . With the great kilt, there is a great deal of fabric that is tossed over the shoulder and can be used like either a shawl, blanket, or just tossed over the shoulder and secured with a broach. The bottom edge of a kilt isn't hemmed, it is called the salvage (not sure of the spelling) very edge of the bolt of fabric. Cheaper kilt makers would not use the entire 9 yards of wool in the bolt of fabric, and would try to get away with skinnier pleats and use less fabric for the "fly" part of the kilt that goes over the shoulder.

I have only worn modern kilts, so I have no idea if any of that is true, or just Scottish BS. I do know that one of my kilts is made with 22 ounce wool, that is as heavy as the wool used on a man's heavy winter coat. It weighs about 5-6 pounds and is REALLY warm. The pleats over the back side are 6-7 layers of wool thick (about .5-.75" thick of wool). Most modern kilts are made with 12-16 ounce wool...the really heavy one I have is a reproduction of a WWI.WWII military black watch kilt. In any case, that kilt is warm enough that I was comfortable in 8" of snow and 25 degrees farenheit. But it also requires proper hat, knee hose of similar weight, and upper body garments.

The ammo belt reference makes more sense to me than the kilt reference...

 

[Mister Ridge]

Wikipedia claims it goes back to the 1850s.

 

[uffduh]

I have also heard that it began referring to the length of fabric used for a Scottish great kilt, (not the modern kilt) . With the great kilt, there is a great deal of fabric that is tossed over the shoulder and can be used like either a shawl, blanket, or just tossed over the shoulder and secured with a broach. The bottom edge of a kilt isn't hemmed, it is called the salvage (not sure of the spelling) very edge of the bolt of fabric. Cheaper kilt makers would not use the entire 9 yards of wool in the bolt of fabric, and would try to get away with skinnier pleats and use less fabric for the "fly" part of the kilt that goes over the shoulder.

I have only worn modern kilts, so I have no idea if any of that is true, or just Scottish BS. I do know that one of my kilts is made with 22 ounce wool, that is as heavy as the wool used on a man's heavy winter coat. It weighs about 5-6 pounds and is REALLY warm. The pleats over the back side are 6-7 layers of wool thick (about .5-.75" thick of wool). Most modern kilts are made with 12-16 ounce wool...the really heavy one I have is a reproduction of a WWI.WWII military black watch kilt. In any case, that kilt is warm enough that I was comfortable in 8" of snow and 25 degrees farenheit. But it also requires proper hat, knee hose of similar weight, and upper body garments.

The ammo belt reference makes more sense to me than the kilt reference...

Proper Scot I know says it was the ammo belts during WW2, not the kilt bit.

Girl I ‘knew’ at university though actually coined it when she asked me to give her the whole nine yards.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

I know, well I've heard, that "freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is an old naval term. The "monkey" was a brass contraption that held the cannon balls i believe in a pyramid stacked fashion? Iron balls, brass monkey, brass contracts at a different rate than iron, balls fall off.
Others are old urban legends....witches titty in a brass bra, well diggers ass, greasy as a soap makers ass, ugly as a mud fence....pretty sure those are just made up.

 

[Namekagon]

My grandfather used to say a few of these:

Snow deeper than the ass of a tall indian.

Blacker than Toby's ass.

Busier than a two-peckered billy goat.

Jumpin fuckin guinea pigs!

 

[Jscb1b]

Uglier than a hammer smashed asshole.

 

[65x55guy]

“off like a herd of turtles.”

 

[tnichols]

Hotter than 2 rats f#*)ing in a wool sock.

 

[JbBooks]

“Dressed to the nines”

 

[Unknown]

deleted

 

[Unknown]

Proper Scot I know says it was the ammo belts during WW2, not the kilt bit.

Girl I ‘knew’ at university though actually coined it when she asked me to give her the whole nine yards.

That is why I said that the ammo belt story made more sense than the kilt story. My guess is that someone who made kilts thought they could get a leg up on the competition if they figured out a way to be part of the story about the saying "the whole nine yards" no matter how far fetched their story was.

I vote for the ammo belt explanation making the most sense...and I wear kilts.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

"She looked like a pot of boiling assholes"

 

[FS1]

McCoy oilers were heavily copied. So came the phrase get the "Real McCoy".

 

[FS1]

Also "Balls to the Wall" airplane throttles had balls on them. If you wanted full power you put the "Balls to the Wall".

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

"She had a face like a smashed crab"

"I've fucked a few cats in my life, but never used the same pound of butter twice"

Seeing your child being born, is like watching your favourite pub burning down.

 

[FS1]

"She looked like a pot of boiling assholes"

Or She was rode hard and put away wet.

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

By the time I finished with her , her giney looked like a bulldog's mouth dribbling porridge.

 

[Winningdog]

In some places. A lot of something is a cow full. Or someone who is confused has his slack twisted.

 

[roostercogburn98]

Nuttier than a squirrel terd

 

[Threadcutter308]

Dumber than a sack of hammers.....

Her ass looks like a couple of puppies in a gunny sack....

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Dumber than a sack of hammers.....

Her ass looks like a couple of puppies in a gunny sack....

That one, I've adapted to something more specific. "A sack, containing hammers, can actually be quite useful given the correct impetus with aim." Whereas a sack containing "just hammer handles" is comparatively quite useless.

Therefore, the phrase:

"As useless as a sack of hammer-handles" actually gets used around here, quite often in the past few years. (when myself and My Lady are conversing about I-D-10-Tee's and whatnot in public and whilst driving.

Driving on a road, 4 lanes wide (all same direction) and being in the far Right lane then SWERVING across to turn Left at the last 'inch or two' of road... garners these statements.

And a few other choice descriptors. Anyone have an electric Train Horn or Loud Hailer laying around?

 

[Major Wader]

To describe a particularly delectable booty - Ass looks like two coons fightin in a croaker sack!!

 

[oneshot86]

bitch is an axe handle wide

 

[Winningdog]

Your ass looks like 10 pounds of chewed bubble gum.

 

[Winningdog]

The shadow of your ass weighs 20 pounds.

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

A mate once said, "If I knew where Megan Fox took a dump, I'd go and roll in it"

 

[Soulezoo]

Beaten with a bag of nickles....

 

[Soulezoo]

More fun than two porcupines in a balloon factory.

 

[Threadcutter308]

A mate once said, "If I knew where Megan Fox took a dump, I'd go and roll in it"View attachment 7439831

I wouldn’t go within 10 country miles of that dumpster fire......

 

[SmartDonkey]

"as useless as tits on a boar." I hear this one quite a bit- but it is usually being used wrong and has become "as useless as tits on a board." I guess that tits on a board would still be pretty useless.... most people must not know that boars actually have them??

"Give me a break man." I was told that this was originally "Give me a brake man." Used as a reference on how reliable and brave the brake men on trains were. When you needed someone dependable you wanted a brake man.

 

[Unknown]

"Got an ass like a forty dollar horse."

 

[jbell]

“Off like a prom dress”
”out like a boner in sweat pants “

 

[JbBooks]

Fucked up like a soup sandwich

queer as a football bat

queer as basketball cleats

got an ass you could shape a horseshoe on

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

"a face like a dropped pie"

That chick is a prawn - you would eat the body, but chuck away the head.

 

[SpookM14]

I believe it originated with the gunners in bombers.

Allied Fighters had 9 yards of belted ammunition for each gun. Some had up to 6 M2 Brownings!!

 

[Bullfrog08]

I cunt finger it out.

My xxx hurts....soak it in cider.

Twat did you say?

 

[corey4]

She has an ass so tight you can bounce a quarter off it and get back 2 dimes and nickel

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Nine yards is a generic cubic measurement of volume delimiting the approximate content of a concrete mixer truck, which generally ranges between 8 and 10 cubic yards..

 

[Sixfivesavage]

"Does a duck with a boner drag weeds"
"Tighter than a bulls ass"
"Sweating like a whore in church"
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

[Broncovan]

A mate once said, "If I knew where Megan Fox took a dump, I'd go and roll in it"View attachment 7439831

I'd eat a mile of her shit just to see where thr peanuts come from.

 

[Quiet-one]

My dad use to say that I was " Slower than molasses in January ".

When God was giving out brains, he thought they said trains, and he wasn't going anywhere.

 

[Average guy]

Her teeth were so bad she could eat corn on the cob through a white picket fence

 

[Aftermath]

Finer than frogs hair.

 

[MK20]

The whole nine yards refers to the length of a cloth belt for a Vickers gun in WWI. That is where the phrase came from.